Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Thanks to Shlara's surpassing generosity, the Teej and I were treated to one of the more unique experiences of our hoops-following lives last night. We were in attendance courtside before the Wizards/Pacers contest as Bullets alumni Bobby Dandridge and Mike Riordan shared their memories with season ticket holders (and a pair of interlopers) in a pregame "chalk talk" moderated by Wiz radio announcer Dave Johnson.

While Dandridge was gracious and open, Riordan stole the show with his memories. He talked about everything from the 1970 NBA Finals (he was a member of the Knicks team that beat the Lakers in the famous Willis Reed Game), running into screens set by Wes Unseld, the difficulties of getting Elvin Hayes to run the triangle offense (Elvin never met a ball he didn't shoot), the differences in All-Star game from his era to now (the money that went to the winners back then made a difference, so the players competed as hard as they did in real games), and trying to guard Jerry West and Oscar Robertson. Riordan, who used to own a legendary Irish bar in Annapolis, was authentic and engaging - a real Gheorghe of the people.

We confess to being a bit disappointed about one aspect of the evening, however. Our tickets said that there was a game between the Wizards and the Pacers to follow the chalk talk. Turns out the Pacers played against John Wall and a collection of playground hacks. The Wiz won the first and fourth quarters, but got blitzed, 65-38, during the game's meaty middle. Jeff Foster, who entertained us greatly with his Larry Bird-esque game-long standing and stretching, managed to be +10 in 9 minutes of action, grabbing 7 boards against the disinterested Wizards frontcourt. Fan favorite Tyler Hansbrough scored 17 points in 21 minutes, mostly by just playing harder than the other guys. Dismal effort by Flip Saunders' boys.

The evening's highlight, beyond the Teej's late-game outburst at the home team's lack of defensive effort, was the appearance of a Pacers fan dressed in full Rey Mysterio costume - mask included. I wasn't aware that anyone from Indiana had that kind of weird.

it's too bad every professional basketball and football game isn't for a purse-- so that you earn your salary by winning . . . do players often have clauses in their contracts that give them bonuses if the team wins more?

Speaking of bad NBA games, Broka and I will be at the Jazz-Nuggets game in Salt Lake next week. We are snowboarding out there and taking in a game one night. Too bad the Jimmer is not passing through U of U that same time.

That Jazz-Nuggets got REALLY less interesting over the last 48 hours. But it should make it easier to get last-minute tickets.

played hookey today and went to the poconos to snow-board-- the conditions were NOT like utah- but fourth time is a charm, both my boys can ski now, by the end they were doing blue squares and i will not have to pay for any more exorbitant "snowmonster" 3 hour lessons (in fact, i think they are young enough that they are still free!)